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Markey, Lynch find common ground, some differences in first debate

The Lowell Sun

Updated:
03/28/2013 10:09:34 AM EDT

By Andy Metzger

State House News Service

NEEDHAM -- Two thirds into a somewhat contentious Democratic senatorial debate between two congressmen who drew on each others' long voting records to make points, the tone turned friendly as the subject turned to veterans affairs.

"You're a real champion of the VA," Congressman Ed Markey told his rival Congressman Stephen Lynch on Wednesday night. "I'm concerned about what could happen to our veterans coming back from Iraq and from Afghanistan. Could you tell us how you view what the solution has to be to make sure that the care is there for them?"

"Well thank you, Ed. That's a very kind question, and you're a gentleman for asking that," Lynch replied, delving into a story where he in-part credited Markey with helping him save three veterans hospitals in his district from closure, facilities he said are now being expanded.

Other parts of the debate were not as solicitous, as Lynch and Markey traded criticisms on opposing votes they had taken on the Affordable Care Act, abortion, and the post-economic crash bank bailout.

"You took $787 billion from taxpayers who - in my district, I've got several thousand people who don't even have a bank account - you took their tax money, gave it to Wall Street," Lynch said.

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"There would have been tens of millions of people without bank accounts if those banks had collapsed, and so for me it was a decision - not to bail out the bankers, but rather to ensure the financial system did not send us back to the Great Depression," Markey said. He said, "We are now in the thirty-fourth consecutive month of an economic recovery because we made sure that our economic system did not collapse."

Another point of contention was the vote on the Affordable Care Act, which Markey said was "the proudest vote of my career" and Lynch said was flawed legislation.

"Steve, when that vote came up you were wrong when you were needed most," Markey said.

"What we did there was wrong. We had one opportunity to provide good health care reform," Lynch countered. He said the bill, now law, conceded too much to health insurance companies and "piled taxes upon taxes upon taxes on health care."

Markey pushed Lynch on his voting for the sequester legislation, a compromise in 2011 when the country was reaching its debt-limit and Republicans demanded spending cuts. After a bipartisan committee and Congress failed to come to up with an adequate solution for the deficit, federal cuts mandated by the bill went into effect in March.

"The idea was we were either going to have a disaster right away or give ourselves 18 more months to try to come up with a plan," Lynch said.

"The sequester could lead to the loss of 60,000 jobs in Massachusetts this year, and that's just the first of nine years in terms of these draconian cuts," Markey said.

R.D. Sahl, who moderated the Boston Media Consortium debate held at WCVB, questioned both candidates on their abortion stances, noting that both candidates' positions have changed over the years.

"For 30 years, I have been a consistent supporter of a woman's right to choose," Markey said, criticizing Lynch for a vote on an amendment on the ACA that would limit federal funding for an abortion.

"I consider myself pro-life," Lynch said. He said, "I don't believe attacking Roe v. Wade is part of any solution. Attacking Roe v. Wade won't make abortions go away, it will just change the setting from a clinical setting to one that's much more dangerous for women."

Both candidates agreed with maintaining low interest rates, citing the still faltering economy.

"If you look at the unemployment rate among people of color across our state, the recovery may be reaching Wall Street, it may be reaching State Street, but it's not reaching Blue Hill Ave.," Lynch said, referencing the Boston thoroughfare that passes through Roxbury and Mattapan.

"We have still an economic crisis for many in this country. Forty-four million Americans live in poverty," Markey said. He said, "We cannot raise interest rates at this point in time."

Asked afterwards about the varying amicable and contentious tones of the debate and which would determine the course of the campaign, Lynch said, "Ed and I know each other, so I'll tell you I'm going to run the type of campaign that at the end of the day if I'm not chosen, then I'll be able to support Mr. Markey, and I hope he's trying to run the same type of campaign."

Markey said "it wasn't assured" that he would ask Lynch about solutions needed for veterans, and said he might have asked other questions if they hadn't already been posed by the moderator.

"I thought it was important to have a discussion about veterans," Markey said. "I think that's the proper focus now as we wind down Afghanistan and Iraq, that we pay attention to that issue, and I wanted to make sure it got injected into the discussion, and he does a good job on it."

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